Don Draper, the brooding lead character in the award-winning TV show Mad Men, is quite the chap to look up to: Handsome, intelligent, masculine.

But what’s that got to do with being a cricketer?

He may be a fictional character from a bygone era, but he has more to do with bowling, batting and fielding than you might think.

Here are two things you can learn about being an exceptional player from everyone’s favourite womanising advertising genius:

Keep a poker face

From the sharp suits to polished presentations that control a room of clients and co-workers, Draper is in total command of his image.

Underneath the suave exterior there is damage and internal conflict. But like a good poker player, Draper knows how to keep a bad hand hidden so he can win.

And it’s the same for cricket. When you are playing under pressure a fog of confusion is never far away. Should you bowl that slower ball? Where is the next boundary coming from to keep up with the rate?

Draper would take it all in his stride and do his job, and you can too.

Learn how to clear your mind of confusion as a bowler or a batsman. Make the game about the next ball only and what you want to happen.

Know that inspiration comes from perspiration

In an early episode, Draper reveals how he comes up with some of the flashes of brilliance that characterise his advertising campaigns; "Just think about it deeply, then forget it...then an idea will jump up in your face."

As a cricketer, the training ground and nets is where you do your thinking. It’s where you work out a method that is best for you. That way, when you are on the pitch the hard ‘thinking’ is already done. You can think about something else and let the magic happen too.

Draper’s kind of man might be long gone in the modern world, but we can still look at his attitudes and pick out what works. He knew confidence and hard work breeds brilliance in advertising and we know it can do exactly the same for cricket.